COBI recognizes outstanding alumni from each department within the college
The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation held its first Departmental Alumni Recognition event on April 13 to honor an outstanding alum from each department within the college.
Recognized during the ceremony were: Accounting – Adele Jasion; Finance – Darren Munn; IOTM – Otto Steele; Management – Christine Menard; and Marketing and International Business – Russell Ely.
“Each of these individuals is a tremendous representative of our college,” noted COBI Dean Gary Insch, “We established this new award to thank them for their commitment to the UT College of Business and to congratulate each of them on their professional success…all built upon what they learned here at COBI.”
The department chair from each represented area introduced the recipient, who spoke about their favorite memories of their time at UT and about their business success.
“This recognition is an incredible honor for me," Adele Jasion said. "I am truly humbled and appreciative of the acknowledgement of my professional, community and personal achievements. I remain connected to the UT College of Business because I know the students there today will succeed with the same type of support, encouragement and motivation that I received during my days as a UT College of Business student.”
The ceremony was held in the atrium of the Savage & Associates Business Complex.
Learn about the recipients here:
Adele Jasion
Adele Jasion is a proud graduate of the University of Toledo with a BBA in accounting
and systems. While at UT, Jasion was active in Beta Alpha Psi, Beta Gamma Sigma and
Delta Delta Delta sorority. She was also a student Pacemaker award recipient.
Jasion is a founding partner of Gilmore Jasion Mahler, LTD (GJM). With over 100 professionals, GJM is one of the area’s largest public accounting firms. Jasion specializes in auditing and risk advisory consulting services. Prior to the establishment of GJM in 1996, she started her public accounting career at EY. Jasion works with clients in the public and private sectors in a variety of industries, including manufacturing and distribution, construction, health care, not-for-profit and service industries. She is also in charge of overseeing the firm’s system of quality control and is a quality reviewer in the AICPA’s practice monitoring program.
Jasion is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA), the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). She is a Past-President of the Toledo Chapters of the OSCPA and IMA. In addition to holding a CPA certificate, she also has a Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA) and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).
Jasion is committed to supporting the local community. She has been active on many local Boards, and is a past 20 Under 40 recipient. Currently, she is involved on the Boards of the Toledo-Lucas County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the Library Legacy Foundation, the Stranahan Theatre and the Toledo Urban Federal Credit Union, along with the Metroparks Audit Committee. Jasion is also a survivor of a rare cancer known as PMP and is actively involved in a patient support group (PMP Pals) for patients with this cancer. She travels around the country on behalf of the organization to help raise awareness and educate those affected.
Darren Munn
Darren Munn is Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Camelot Portfolios,
LLC and its’ sister companies: Munn Wealth Management, Camelot Funds, & Camelot Advisors.
Munn founded what would become Munn Wealth Management when he started his practice
in 1998 and created Camelot Portfolios in 2008 as fellow advisors sought out his investment
management expertise. He is the Lead Portfolio Manager for two mutual funds started
and advised by Camelot Funds: Camelot Premium Return Fund and Excalibur Small Cap
Income Fund.
Munn graduated Summa Cum Laude from the UT College of Business in 1999 with a major in finance and a minor in business law. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2002. Munn’s passion is to make an impact in the lives of others, especially in the areas of financial stewardship, developing young people, and helping those in need. He serves dozens of ministries and organizations with gifts of time, talent, and treasure.
Munn’s greatest area of impact is his family. He and his wife Erin have 9 children and 1 grandchild, and he is happy playing with, teaching, training, and mentoring them. Darren and Erin love to travel together and hope to visit one new country plus one new state each year. Munn enjoys competitive volleyball and softball; loves to listen to music and wishes he could dance. He also enjoys watching Ohio State football, watching movies, and relaxing by a fire.
Otto Steele
Otto Steele is a Global Components Supply Chain Optimization Leader who works at Owens
Corning, where he helps to enable its supply chain to provide exceptional customer
experiences while utilizing their world class capabilities.
Steele has a passion for inspiring the careers of students at the University of Toledo.
Over the past ten years, he has mentored past and current COBI students through speaking
engagements, offering career services and recruiting for Owens Corning. Through his
recruiting efforts, he has helped start the careers of many University of Toledo COBI
supply chain students.
Steele has worked at Owens Corning for the past thirteen years in all areas of supply
chain. Through the years, he has been involved in sales and operations planning, material
planning, warehousing, sourcing, production scheduling, customer operations, inventory
management and multiple ERP deployments.
Steele is a strong advocate for education and personal development. He has been an
active member of Toledo APICS chapter for over 20 years; has led APICS CPIM certification
review courses and instructed part-time at the University of Toledo.
Steele holds a bachelor’s degree in business in operations management and information
systems from the University of Toledo. He is CPIM certified through APICS and is CPM
certified through ISM, and he is the professional chair of the University of Toledo’s
Supply Chain Advisory Board.
Christine Menard
Christine Menard has almost 15 years of HR experience including over a decade in the
financial industry (primarily global asset management, institutional and real estate
investment). Prior to joining Oppenheimer Funds in 2013, Menard spent most of her
career at UBS Global Asset Management starting as a HR Manager in New York and Connecticut
serving the global real estate investment business and then as Director of HR Performance,
Reward & Analytics in London, England, where she led a global team of HR officers
to deliver the division’s performance management, talent, compensation and promotion
cycle. She has also worked in recruitment and HR management at GE Commercial Finance
in California, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network and Danaher.
At OppenheimerFunds, Menard began in Colorado as a HR Relationship Manager for the
Transfer Agent and Global Operations, where she drove and aligned business initiatives
with HR strategy among various HR functions (Learning & Development, Talent Acquisition,
Compensation, HR Operations, etc.). She now serves Technology and Global Operations
through Organizational Development & Learning. In this role she advises and serves
in areas such as leadership, transformation, talent, and performance management.
As Vice President on the TIED (Talent, Inclusion, Engagement, Diversity) board of
directors, Menard focuses on diversity and inclusion business challenges and solutions
to positively impact employees, markets, customers and shareholders. TIED is a global
diversity leadership roundtable that engages organizations with a Colorado presence
in collaborative dialogue about diversity, inclusion, employee engagement, business
resource groups, recruitment, retention, and career/leadership development initiatives.
She is also an active volunteer with the Blind Institute of Technology (BIT), which
prepares the visually impaired and the employers who hire them for success in the
workplace.
Menard was recognized by ICC in 2015 as a HR Disrupter and was given the opportunity
to challenge a room full of 300+ HR professionals to put the “human” back in HR. She
has received her Senior Professional in HR certification (SPHR) and holds a Bachelor’s
degree and MBA from the University of Toledo in human resource management and organizational
development with a minor in marketing.
Russell Ely
Russell Ely is currently Director of Business Development for Palmer Conservation
Consulting, an energy conservation consultancy, where he has been for five years.
Prior to that he was an analyst, OEM at Libbey Owens Ford (now NSG/Pilkington); K-12
marketing manager at Siemens; and branch manager, Toledo, at Johnson Controls.
Ely obtained a certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Accredited
Professional (LEED AP); from the US Green Building Council (USGBC); is a Certified
Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP) from the Association of Energy Engineers
(AEE).
While at UT he was a VP of Student Government; freshman camp director at the University
YMCA; VP of Inter Fraternal Council; active with Sigma Phi Epsilon; a faculty advisor
(as MBA Intern to Sonny Ariss & Bill Ruud) to Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs
(ACE).
Ely served as the College of Business Alumni Affiliate President in the late 1980’s;
served on the UT Alumni Association Board in the 1990’s, including as president in
1996-97; and hosted the UT Alumni Association’s first international alumni event celebrating
the UT Sailing Club’s successful competition in the International Collegiate Sailing
Regatta, La Rochelle, France, 2015.
His volunteer work includes: at UT: being a mentor with the UT Chapter of National
Science Foundation’s I-Core Program; the UT Foundation Development Committee. In his
profession he has volunteered with US Green Building Council (USGBC) Toledo Chapter,
Founding Member; Energy Services Coalition (national board); the Society of Automotive
Engineers, Detroit Section Vice-Chair; Automotive Marketing Research Council (national
board member); and Sales and Marketing Executives, Detroit. In the community he has
volunteered with the Toledo Area Chamber of Commerce, FOCUS (Family Outreach Community
United Services) and the Boy Scouts of America.